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Celebrity chef Aristos Papandroulakis has fielded offers for his swanky Rottnest restaurant as the investigation into his alleged plundering of western rock lobster off the coast of Perth continues.
In April 2015, WAtoday.com.au reported Mr Papandroulakis was being investigated by the Department of Fisheries for allegedly taking crayfish from pots that didn't belong to him.
Celebrity chef Aristos Papandroulakis is being investigated over alleged crayfish theft.Credit: Tourism WA video
At the time, a fisherman said authorities had Mr Papandroulakis under surveillance for some time.
Fisheries again refused to comment about the allegations against Mr Papandroulakis this week, saying the department couldn't comment while the investigation was still underway.
Sources have told WAtoday there were advanced negotiations regarding the sale of the Aristos restaurant on the holiday island of Rottnest.
Meanwhile, TV's one-time Surprise Chef, who previously said he partly attributed his restaurant success to a keen eye for fresh seafood, confirmed he had been looking at selling his Aristos Waterfront restaurant on Rottnest.
"I was looking at selling it in the past, but not now," he said.
Mr Papandroulakis, who hosted Surprise Chef on Channel Seven before being poached by Channel Nine, wouldn't say why he was thinking of selling the restaurant.
"People sell businesses all the time," he said.
There have been rumours that Rottnest Express was keen to snap up the upmarket restaurant but the ferry company was remaining tight-lipped about it.
Sources told WAtoday.com.au that a mooted sale of the establishment seemed to have fallen over in its final stages.
Mr Papandroulakis said even though he was "aware" there was an investigation underway by Fisheries into allegations he was claiming other people's crayfish as his own, the department had never contacted him.
He felt he was being wrongly accused of pilfering lobster from pots.
"Yeah, I probably do [feel wrongly accused]," he said.
"Look, I've never been contacted by Fisheries and you would have to ask them why they haven't.
"I'm too busy running my business and restaurants to worry what Fisheries is doing."
The Aristos Waterfront Rottnest restaurant, which opened in 2009, offers diners three different recipes of "Rottnest Lobster" – natural, mornay and barbecued – at a cost of $68 for a whole or $38 for a half.
Regular visitors to Rottnest have told WAtoday.com.au the plundering of lobster pots is rife off WA's favourite holiday destination.
Recreational fishers are allowed to catch a maximum of eight lobsters for each licence with a limit of three licences a boat.
Anyone found to have removed fish or fishing gear without authority faces penalties of up to $25,000 an offence or 12 months imprisonment under the Fish Resources Management Act.
Late last month two men were fined more than $87,000 by a Joondalup court for pinching hundreds of lobsters from pots that weren't their own.
One man was found with more than 60 packaged or frozen lobster tails at his home.
Fisheries compliance manager Todd A'Vard said cases of people interfering with fishing gear, were difficult to prove.
"We know that many recreational fishers are out there doing the right thing and some have suffered from such illegal activities," he said.
"When you set your lobsters pots there's nothing worse than finding, or suspecting, they have been raided by someone else.
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